My goodness, dear friend,
you are reading a story that I’ve hoped to print for 50 years … and
about $1,000 that I’ve been so hoping to give away!
This is the story about a wonderful end to a terrible mystery. It is the discovery of the long lost steel steamer Benjamin Noble.
The mystery stretches from 1914 until today; the money, well, we’ll come to that soon enough.
It was in the spring of 1914 that the 239-foot-long steamer Benjamin Noble
left Conneaut, Ohio, for Duluth-Superior, greatly overloaded,
unfortunately a somewhat common problem of the day. The stout vessel
was only 5 years old and had been built by Great Lakes Engineering
Company in Wyandotte, Michigan, to handle steel rails. But loading the
more than 2,900 tons that the 1,481-ton vessel took on that day must
have brought some concerned glances from the crew as the painted lines
on Noble’s side disappeared beneath the water. It was fully loaded.
This was the first command of John Eisenhardt, the
31-year-old captain. Although he had had his master’s papers for more
than six years, this was his first time fully in charge of a vessel,
and it was crossing Lake Superior.
According to Dr. Julius F. Wolff Jr.’s fine book, Lake Superior Shipwrecks, the Noble entered Lake Superior through the locks on April 25 into a fog. It and the wooden lumber steamer Norwalk
both encountered thick fog near Knife Island on the Minnesota shore,
followed by severe weather from the night of April 27 into the morning
of April 28. The waves rose so high that they extinguished the light on
Duluth’s south pier and swamped the fog horn.
In the wee hours of April 28, 1914, Benjamin Noble and
its 20-man crew ceased to exist for the rest of the world. Which is not
to say it vanished without trace; its hatch covers and pilothouse were
found on Minnesota Point in the following days, as were life rafts,
clothing and other debris. An immigrant fisherman admitted years later
that he had netted a body, but fearing contact with authorities simply
let the body slip back into the lake.
Except for these hints of the wreck, no other remains of boat or bodies were discovered - until now.
But first let me tell you about that $1,000.
An old friend of mine, Paul J. Flynn, was a Duluth diver. Paul knew quite a bit about the missing Benjamin Noble and spent a lifetime searching for it. It was Paul, in turn, who got me interested in another wreck, the America. He held the salvage rights on the vessel, which I purchased. As some of you remember, I planned to refloat America,
which lay on the bottom at Isle Royale. No small part of that project
was knowing exactly where the steamer was - useful information. (For
many reasons, America remains below, but we tried.)
Equally intriguing to me was the Benjamin Noble. So much so that in 1987 when we created the now retired Lake Superior Newsletter, a diving publication from Lake Superior Magazine, I urged a search for the lost vessel by launching “The Race to Find the Noble,”
with a $1,000 reward incentive. At that time, we asked for a sketch or
photo of what people found on a fish or depth finder (best bets of
discovery at the time). We asked that LORAN coordinates be included -
now an obsolete method of location.
Well, the “race” has taken almost 20 years to be done, but
what came as proof was a whole lot better than a “sketch” of a fish
finder.
Jerry Eliason (left) watches as Randy Beebe prepares the underwater camera which took the picture seen below. PHOTO LAKE SUPERIOR MAGAZINE
Yes, in recent years, the ability to locate items - like
sunken wrecks - in the water has changed dramatically because of the
greatly improved sensing equipment. These days, there are data units -
the Global Positioning System, or GPS - that can in almost an instant
tell you at what longitude and latitude you sit as you read this
column! Underwater sonar scanning systems have equally improved at
incredible rates.
Not long ago, a telephone call from a small group who had the
tools pleasantly surprised me. These fellows - Jerry Eliason, diver and
underwater photographer, and Randy Beebe, Northwest Airlines pilot and
diver, both of Duluth; Ken Merryman of Fridley, Minnesota (whose boat
is the Heyboy); and Kraig Smith of Rice Lake, Wisconsin,
Jerry’s buddy and shipwreck diver - had found a vessel more than 10
miles off the Minnesota shore, which they felt was Benjamin Noble.
While they did not have a photo of the name, they had photographed a
vessel in more than 300 feet of water full of railroad components. Was
I interested? My answer was a resounding, “Yes!”
Remembering my heyday of diving (a few years ago, I’ll
admit), I feared for their ability to re-find a wreck so deep that far
offshore. These able men offered to take our associate publisher, Paul
Hayden, and me in their 34-foot boat. Despite significant seas, the
date planned brought decent weather and lake conditions.
This image is
a side-scan sonar shot of what appears to be Benjamin Noble, a vessel lost since 1914 on the western end of Lake Superior. This sonar was developed by Jerry’s son Jarrod Eliason. COURTESY JERRY ELIASON
On May 14 this year, we left the dock at Knife River,
Minnesota, at 10:05 a.m. after fueling. Besides myself and Paul, the
group included Merryman, Eliason, Beebe and deep diver Bob Olson. On
the way, I explained the problems of finding an exact point so far
offshore. My hosts’ amused smiles were almost unnerving.
Speed was reduced and the underwater viewing system set.
Before long, the screen filled with a high-quality photographic view of
the boat well below us. I was dumbfounded.
After awhile material appeared in the picture and a depth
number reflected more than 300 feet. Our position was adjusted, the
engine idling as it was eased momentarily into drive. Something
rectangular appeared, followed by a vertical object, triggering the
comment: “OK fellows, we are on the Noble.”
This led to more than an hour of exploring. Everything
confirmed the wreck: ship size and beam, cargo of rails and other
items, the bow under mud, the aft partially mud-covered.
The shipwreck hunters, who had recorded significant video in
about 11 passes of the site, found that the boat lies in a trench
created when it sank. Mainly the aft end and several hatches are
apparent with most of the ship buried. About 3 to 6 feet rises above
the lake bottom, although more of the ship is intact below the surface.
On this trip, our group discovered hatches 2 and 3; both were
filled with debris and mud. Previously discovered hatches - 4, 5 and 6
- are open and exhibit rails inside. The aft end collapsed inward, so
it is exposed, including some portholes. The most likely
scenario, as Merryman sees it, is that the boiler exploded during the
sinking, causing the aft end to implode as it headed for the bottom.
On the credibility of the wreck, he says, “Beyond a doubt. Nothing would negate this as being the Noble.”
There now have been six visits of the wreck from Oct. 31,
2004, to May 21, 2005. Images from Nov. 17 persuaded the shipwreck
hunters that this is the Noble. The group has plans to deep dive the wreck this summer for further proof of its identity.
“No question, gentlemen, you have found the Benjamin Noble,” I told them that day.
This is what the camera views on the wreck believed to be the Benjamin Noble. COURTESY JERRY ELIASON
We started for Two Harbors after the small explorer camera
was recovered. I felt as if a whole lifetime of shipwreck hunting had
paid off. What’s more, although my diving days may be behind me, I saw
the Benjamin Noble underwater!
As to that $1,000 reward, I am gladly paying it to these
intrepid shipwreck hunters. I am told that they intend to use the money
to get the boat listed on the National Register of Historic Places to
protect it. A noble effort on the Noble’s behalf.
And now, my friends, one last thing before we close this
chapter on one Lake Superior mystery. Most amazing of all is that these
men who rescued Benjamin Noble from being forever lost … were never looking for it. They are searching for another wreck, the wooden steamer Robert Wallace. In the course of not discovering it, they’ve found two other vessels beside the Noble - the bulk freighter Thomas Friant and the schooner Moonlight.
There remain still more mysteries of Lake Superior to be solved.
A selection of Jim Marshall’s columns of lake lore and his inland sea voyages
has been published as Lake Superior Journal: Views from the Bridge
by Lake Superior Port Cities Inc. Follow this link
for more information.
|
